U.S. Navy - Great rare photo of the U.S. Aircraft bombers - 1942 "War Birds Between Battles" Wildcats being armed up aboard USS Enterprise during the early days of the war in the Pacific. Of note is the over-sized US insignia – an aid to not being shot down by your own guys. Gelatin silver print Dimensions: 17.8 cm x 23.3 cm Condition good/very good Description and more stamps on reverse Historical background: The war in Europe and first own war experiences quickly lead to the realization that the previous appearance of airplanes no longer meets the requirements of modern warfare. In spring 1942 Japan held a vast territory. East China, Indochina and Burma, the Philippines, New Guinea and vast parts of the Pacific. From Guadalcanal in the Solomon islands chain it was just a small step to Australia (the next Jap. target). May 6th - 8th 1942: The battle of Coral Sea (north east of New Guinea) marks a turning point in sea warfare as it was entirely fought by aircraft carrier forces, the ships not seeing each other; Jap. carrier Shokaku damaged, American CV-2 Lexington sunk. Supremacy of Japanese aircraft obvious. June 4th 1942: Battle of Midway. due to a great portion of luck Japanese carriers Akagi, Hiryu, Soryu and Kage were sunk. Also most of the well trained and battle experienced Japanese pilots were lost. The Japanese expansion plans became obsolete. On the American side only CV-5 Yorktown was lost. Beginning of the fight for liberation of Guadalcanal in the Solomon islands. 1943 I: The fight for Guadalcanal and the Solomons goes on. In battles at land, sea and in the air the Allied forces repelled Japanese counter attacks and at last gained control over the whole Solomon islands in autumn 1943. The supremacy of Japanese aircraft was countered by tactics, additionally due to the flimsy construction of Japanese aircraft Japan again lost many of it's remaining first class pilots. 1943 II: Nov. 1943 - Feb. 1944 Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign. First amphibious landing on Tarawa, Majuro-atoll first replenishment base for aircraft carriers. 1944 is dominated by the American counteroffensive. Constant commissioning of new aircraft carriers. Capture of bases which serve as a base for further advance. Preparation and support of the landing companies of the US Marine Corps by aircraft carrier units. 19/20.06.1944 Battle of the Philippine Sea, de facto end of the Japanese Navy Air Force. In October landing operations in the Philippines, first Kamikaze. Generally speaking, the appearance of US Navy aircraft was strongly influenced by the main weapon, the aircraft carrier. The color scheme and markings were related to the requirements of the carrier and the operation at sea. Since the value of an aircraft carrier was determined by the number of aircraft it was able to bring into service, but lacking the parking space of an airfield, aircraft had to be tightly packed. To make it easier for pilots to find their assigned aircraft, its number was often repeated in other places (usually the engine cowling and landing gear doors). The introduction of folding wings did not change this, as they were only used to increase the number of aircraft to 90 and more. A single aircraft with wings folded out but without a pilot was therefore not visible on board a carrier. A pre-war squadron consisted of 18 aircraft, later variable in size up to 30. The superior unit was the Air Group. The first war experiences soon showed that the pre-war identification system was no longer up to date and a two-plane formation was much more practical than the former three-plane one. National Insignia: The US Navy and the US Army Air Force jointly determined the national insignia. - Unlike other markings, it was changed as quickly as possible. Time sequence: 1. 01/05/1942: On fuselage in size 24 inch, directive Feb.05.1942: As big as possible. Accordingly the sovereign insignia moved forward on the fuselage and the squadron insignia moved backwards. On the rudder 13 stripes of equal width, 7 in "Insignia Red", 6 in "Insignia White". On the wings now on both sides, also as large as possible, also over the aileron. Distance from the wing tip 1/3 of the distance to the fuselage. 1a. 02/06/1942: The national insignia must not touch the moving parts of the wing. On the fuselage centered between trailing edge of wing and leading edge of tailplane. Since the adjustments were made in a hurry, there could be several variations as shown on the left. 2. 05/06/1942 (before Midway!) the red dot is removed. It displeased the pilots and could easily be confused with the Japanese national emblem. Size of the national insignia reduced again. Also the red and white stripes on the rudder are omitted. 3. 09/25/1942: At the urging of the British, who feared identification problems, for the operation "Torch" (landing in North Africa, 11/1942) a yellow ring similar to the British national insignia was added to the US national insignia on the fuselage and undersides of the wings.